Ukraine's Interpipe seeks $1 bln for smelting capacity expansion, green steel production

MOSCOW. June 13 (Interfax) - Ukrainian industrial company Interpipe is seeking financing for an investment project costing about $1 billion to expand the Dneprostal (Interpipe Steel) electric smelting complex with the construction of a new flat product division.

Fadi Khraibe, chairman of the Interpipe board of directors, presented the project during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, Ukrainian media reported, citing a company press release.

"We expect a significant shortage of supply of flat products. In addition, we see ever-growing demand for green steel in the European Union. Our proposed project is designed to meet this demand. However, its implementation will require significant debt financing from international financial organizations. We hope that the Ukraine Development Fund will be the instrument that will help us prepare this project," he was quoted as saying.

"We think we can achieve an internal rate of return of about 19% and a payback period of seven years," he said, adding that the project would create an additional 1,000 jobs in the region, and steel would be produced with minimal carbon dioxide emissions.

The second stage of the plant involves modernizing the existing electric arc furnace and boosting steel production by approximately 1 million tonnes, as well as building a high-quality flat product division.

The Dneprostal plant uses scrap metal, as well as environmentally friendly feedstock such as hot briquetted iron and direct reduced iron briquettes instead of pig iron and scrap.

Interpipe produces seamless pipes and railway wheels. It has five manufacturing divisions: Interpipe NTRP, Interpipe Novomoskovsk Pipe Plant, Interpipe Niko Tube, Interpipe Vtormet and electric furnace steel plant Dneprostal (Interpipe Steel).

Interpipe Limited's ultimate beneficiaries are Ukrainian businessman Viktor Pinchuk and members of his family.